


Lara Croft: Ghosts of the followers of Kitezh

by orphan_account



Series: Remnants of The Followers of the Prophet [1]
Category: Tomb Raider & Related Fandoms
Genre: Action/Adventure, Ancient History, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-25
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-05-19 17:13:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19361191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Lara follows leads left in the ruins of her kitezh expidition, relics hidden away by the followers of the prophet of Kitezh as they fled the knights of trinity from constantinople





	Lara Croft: Ghosts of the followers of Kitezh

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first short story of a prelude series I'm writing for a longer story following the arc of these fan fictions, hope you all enjoy!

It had just been a passing mention in Serafima's notes, a small scroll referencing the origins of the Dreaming Blossoms, the hallucinogenic flowers that caused so much woe in Wicked Vale. The well-worn scroll was written in Byzantine script detailing that, in addition to the Prophet's followers bringing with them the Divine Source, the caravan of refugees had acquired and protected several lesser artifacts of mystical origin and power. Along their long trek from what was now Syria, they had left small groups of followers to attempt to hide these powerful or significant items. The Prophet had closely guarded their locations, hoping to draw the Knights of Trinity to him alone so even should he fall and lose the Divine Source, Trinity would not possess all the mystic powers he and his followers had found. 

The Dreaming Blossoms has been a product of one such artifact, according to the remaining script. Lara had been able to find it among some scattered belongings of Serafima, tossed aside among journals, a couple empty ration cans and the waste clutter that seems to accumulate in discarded storage bins. It was incomplete and sometimes incomprehensible, undoubtedly from the author's experience with the pollen exposure. Lara had been able to glean some critical information though. The Dreaming Blossoms had germinated in the presence of what the Prophet's followers had referred to as "The Child of Eden". Little was said about the nature of the artifact other than it seemed to have a been able to affect plant life and had assisted in the Prophet's follower's survival in the desert.

Having so little information on a mystical artifact's characteristics and only a shadowy image of what form of power it had or was believed to have had was something Lara had grown used to. Luck had it that the scroll had recalled the location of the hidden "Child of Eden". They had shed this artifact south of the deepest tip of the sea that stands west of Gorgon's Great Wall according the script. 

 

Lara had to brush up a little on her geography, assuming the reference was to the massive system of fortresses and defensive walls build in the Gorgon province of modern-day Iran. The only sea within a hundred miles was the Caspian to the north. After pouring over a few different maps, both modern and ancient she had noticed a small estuary at the far south tip of the sea. It was known as the Gulf of Gorgon but had been at times in some older maps referred to as the Gorgon Sea. It had a long outer bank to the north with only a small inlet allowing the two bodies to meet. The script offered only one more line that gave any inclination to the location of this ancient Sanctum. "In a grove of Orost, the Child of Eden will grow away from those who defiled its parent." 

 

This clue had led Lara to Mazandaran Province in Northern Iran. There a section of the Orost Forest flourished in an island of highland mountains and scrubland. Most people paid little attention to it, weather, erosion and human interaction shapes the way the forest grows. Lara had noticed upon looking at satellite photos of the region that there seemed to be a lush island of growth that had once been a part of the large Orost woodland to the south. Lara had packed her bags and booked a flight to Tehran as soon as she had the breakthrough, arriving and immediately getting on a bus to Mazandaran Province. 

 

The arid urban centers yielded to a warm temperate forestland, the open-air jeep that she had hired to take her to Farimak Village rocking and jostling on the worn country road. Seasonal rains had upset the flow of the dirt road, shifting sediments and earth into a new bumpy pattern for the light traffic it saw to smooth out until the next downfall would threaten to retake the dirt road. A hard bump had almost knocked the scroll out of her hand as brown water splashed up over the jeep’s fender. Lara was happy she had seen the virtue in wearing a pair of olive-green cargo pants with black jungle boots despite the heat but was now questioning the idea to wear a dark gray tank top rather than something to protect her arms from the insects that typically dwell in warm woods during the rainy season. It was hardly anything that could change now, as usual she had only brought the essentials; her climbing picks, a couple dry rations, water purification tablets, water canteen, a pouch of orange glow sticks, a lighter, a flashlight and a small notebook in which she had compiled all her information on the "Child of Eden". She had also smuggled in a couple small doses of the Dreaming Blossom antidote to be safe and had purchased handgun from a smuggler she had managed to find in one of the small towns on the bus route to Mazandaran. It had been a ridiculous sum but she now had the comfort of a parabellum on her hip and two spare magazines in her pocket.

The jeep pulled off the road just as the village of Farimak appeared through the trees and the driver put his arm around the seat to look back at her.

"You had better get out here if you want to go looking for that ruin." He said in a heavy middle eastern accent. "Villages like these don't like outsiders, especially like you." He said referring to her lack of a hijab and obviously British complexion. 

"I make trips here to deliver supplies." he continued "They talk of a ruin that is at the end of an old hunting trail, marked by old stone way-signs. They say it is haunted, that a pack of coyotes makes their homes there, that it was destroyed because they did not accept Mohammed. Whatever. Most of it sounds like local superstition but they should leave you alone if you stick to the path." He finished indicating a small monolith on the edge of the road signifying the start of some old and overgrown trail.

"Thank you, here's the rest of your payment. Remember what I said, people may ask after me, only speak to them if they're from the British embassy." She said leaping over the side, letting her boots land on the dry mud of the road. She handed the driver his payment, a little more than asked just to ensure his silence. 

"I'll be in the village for several nights, but I leave at the end of the week, you are on your own after that." He said as he began to pull away. 

Lara made her way over to the small monolith. It was a dark stone, not local and cut with some basic script. "Byzantine. Very worn but I can make out two words; 'Eden' and 'offspring'." She murmured to herself as she examined the stone. This was a start, a foothold to getting her closer to the "Child of Eden". 

The forest surrounded her and filled her senses. The air was light and fresh, the soft sound of birds insulated her from the quite bustle of the nearby village. The earth was moist and rich in these woods, creeper and fallen leaves hiding dark flat stones akin to the monolith that led her to the barely discernable old trail. Lara made her way cautiously, brushing a bead of sweat from her brow, pushing a loose strand of her long auburn hair out of her eyes and continued on, the path winding steadily uphill, snaking ever deeper into the forest.

The path began to level out and the dark shape of a structure formed just beyond Lara's vision through the thick foliage. The stone of an overgrown ruin began to come into view as she made her way through the brush, her heart beginning to race with the excitement that always overtook her upon making a discovery or delving into an ancient forgotten edifice. Her pace quickened and then she suddenly stopped, stepped off the path and crouched amongst the brush, a few small twigs scraping against her bare arms as she sought refuge amongst the leaves.

There was a presence just in front of the ruin, organized, deliberate and modern. The patterned camouflage of military style tents, olive painted storage crates, a propane camping grill, dark green cooler and a rifle laying on the crate. "Trinity." Lara whispered to herself, her excitement turning into a feeling of fear and dread. These materials seemed to have been here for some time, almost months, maybe even a year. She moved closer, slowly through the thick vegetation, making sure to stay hidden from any potential sentry. There where creepers moving up the sides of the storage crates and on closer inspection there was a small cluster of shrubs taking over the tent. Most importantly there was no movement, eerily so.

Lara reached down and drew her hand gun from its holster, switching of the safety and securing her grip before moving forward out of the undergrowth. It was definitely a military style camp, from the style of tents, the orderly lay out and the weapons made that obvious. She held her pistol in front of her, keeping the sights loosely aligned with her eye, making sure she was ready to fire the second something happened. She took slow deliberate steps, making her way over toward the front of the ruin.

The ruin had a low opening more like the entrance to a massive stone burrow rather than a ruin of the followers of the Eternal Prophet. Vines and dead limbs of creeper and bushes obscured most of the entrance, despite the clearly recent intrusion. Lara held her gun on a figure laid in front of the entrance. They were face down and somewhat obscured by advancing vines. Despite the growth, the body did not look terribly decayed, though it had clearly been laying in the grass for at least a couple days. They wore military style fatigues, a plate carrier vest with a variety of different pouches attached, a sidearm holster on their thigh and had a distinct three-pointed insignia on a red background, the symbol for Trinity.

"What could have killed him." Lara though aloud to herself as she cautiously circled the corpse. His weapon was gone, possibly salvaged by his comrades. It seemed true since he had very little else on him. She found one cylinder in a Velcro pocket. It looked like some form of explosive, labeled AN-M14 with a capital "INCE" stencil painted onto the canister. "Hmm, I'll take what I can get if Trinity is going to be involved." She said softly, putting the grenade into one of the pockets on the side of her pants. 

She brushed aside the foliage obscuring the entrance and cautiously made her way inside. It was dim inside the ruin, the light from the outside seeping into the entry chamber in rays made visible by the dust and pollen that hung in the air. Pollen. Lara quickly reached into one of her pockets and withdrew a small pouch. Undoing the clasp revealed four small vials of the antidote to the pollen she had encountered in the Wicked Valley. She took one dose and breathed a sigh of relief. Each one was only good for about three hours, or so the measurements said. She had to keep them small to sneak the by customs without any question, being able to pass them off as make up or toiletries. With this location being the potential source of the Dreaming Blossom, it was possible that the entire Trinity force could be dead, or hallucinating. Had they been anyone else that could spell danger for Lara, but since Trinity was likely to try and kill her without being under the effect of hallucinogenic plant pollen, she would take any advantage she could get.

She made her way further into a tunnel dug out and then lined with orderly dark stone slabs, simple in design but giving a sense of order to the ruin. The passage narrowed to the size of small hallway and began to turn, the way forward disappearing into subterranean darkness. It was washed away with a crack and a soft, orange glow as Lara held a glow stick up to illuminate the hallway. It curved around back towards the entrance and began to descend in with stone steps. Lara made her way quickly down the steps until she felt the stones level out. She paused to catch her breath. She held the glow stick above her head and realized she was standing in a circular chamber that was that had several bodies spread out on the floor.

There were five of them, all Trinity soldiers laying in various positions that indicated a struggle. Lara carefully walked over the first corpse and knelt down, looking for what might have killed the man. He had bruises around his neck and a mark across his face as if he had been struck with a switch or a cable. He had died from asphyxiation and based on the bruises around his neck he was probably strangled. 

"Strangled but how did that happen with this many witnesses?" Lara wondered aloud as she continued her inspection of the chamber. The walls had a Byzantine fresco depicting the garden of Eden and what appeared to be the roots of the tree the bore the forbidden fruit.

"The righteous and penitent for the sins of man...shall be entrusted with the cutting of Eden... learned from its parent... does not trust man yet will bloom a new Eden when sown." Lara spoke softly as she read the inscription written below the painting. "It ends here, there has to be more nearby." She said turning to the rest of the chamber. She made her way around it clockwise, walls here cracked, vines and moss growing out of the walls and seeming to pool on the floor like falling water. She located another fresco, this one depicting a more ominous scene.

There was a tree depicted underneath a hill, rich farmland was on top of the hill growing tropical fruit and winter wheat in the same rows. Below the hill lay several dead men around the tree, the faces painted with a deathly pallor and accents of purple. Underneath the tree, as if to represent burial where the bodies of several women.

"Men will not be allowed to approach, for the Child of Eden knows they will prey upon it... rich life and bountiful harvest shall take any soil... Child of Eden consumes the Rib of Adam as penance, sustenance and vengeance for its parent." She read aloud to herself, the gentle tones of her voice bouncing off the empty walls of the chamber. Lara shuddered after completing the inscription. The followers had painted a grim picture, quite literally, of what this "Child of Eden" was and the corpses of the Trinity soldiers only gave credibility to their story. 

Lara turned back to the bodies, approaching one that looked as though he had died up against the wall, then slid to the floor in heap. His wounds were very similar to the first soldier except that he had a combat knife in his hand. It looked as though he died of strangulation as well. Lara became acutely aware that all of the corpses she had encountered where those of men, according to the inscription left by the Prophet's followers... a chill ran up her spine again and she exhaled sharply, trying to refocus herself to unraveling this mystery.

Returning to her examination of the corpse she realized she couldn't make out the soldier's name tag. Upon closer inspection she saw that was because the front of his vest was torn, shredded in some areas as if some furious big cat had decided to use him as a scratching pad. 

"Odd." Lara said aloud as she gently ran her fingers over the ripped cloth. "This is woven nylon, the stuff they make heavy backpacking gear and paracord with. It would have taken a lot of strength to tear this, and there are no big cats or predators like that in the area. Besides, even if there where, that kind of attack is not consistent with his fatal injuries." Lara said standing up, attempting to puzzle out her findings.

A glint of light caught her eye about chest level on the wall. She stepped closer and closely looked at the cracked stones covered in vines. One particular vine had several strips of nylon fabric caught on it, the reflection that caught her eye was from the plastic back of a name tag ripped from the Trinity soldier's vest.

"How did that ge... oh god!" Lara yelled in surprise as she reached out to attempt to remove the scrap of cloth. As soon as she touched it the vine reacted, actually moved. At first she told herself to calm down, it was probably just a snake and the sudden movement had simply startled her. A split second after before the comfort of her logic could sink in it was too late to react. The tip of the vine had grown out of the wall so swiftly she hadn't seen it until she felt the slick skin of the live vine circle around her waist and pin her left arm. It was only marginally thinner than her fore arm and it moved with the strength of a boa constrictor. "Ugghh, what? What... is this!?" Lara cried out trying to pull herself away, holding her free arm up and away from the rapidly moving vines. The length that had seized her coiled itself around her, adding its length to those already binding her, the smooth skin of the plant squeezing her arm tight, preventing her from moving away or fighting back. She threw the glow stick to the ground and began grabbing at the vine binding her, trying to tear it away from her. It resisted her attack, the vine too strong to be ripped by hand as it continued snaking its way around her, getting close to her elbow with each band of fleshy creeping foliage. 

"Rrrghaa! Come on!" Lara shouted as she strained with her free hand, trying free herself from the coils of vegetation. There was a loud rustling, Lara looked out to see another vine launch itself towards her, wrapping itself around her shoulders, pinning her arms above the elbow and seriously restricting her movement. This vine began it's coiling around her to match the first, this one far closer to her neck.

"No, god no, no, no, No, No, No!!" Lara screamed, shaking left and right as hard as she could, the vines binding her tighter, keeping her from moving in either direction she struggled, he ponytail whipping back and forth as her desperation grew with the amount of thick foliage snaking around her body. She stopped struggle for a moment, chest heaving, she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to push her arms out as hard as she could, just wanting to loosen the lengths of creeper around her. With the green lengths of vine now wrapping itself further up her torso, over her left elbow and the second leafy assailant making its way over her shoulder blades the only defiance to her plight Lara could muster was to keep her one hand free from being pinned.

"Hrgghh, ughh come o...huh...on!" Lara sobbed as the steadily advancing plants rendered her more and more helpless, in her desperate struggle to free her torso from the constricting flora she had failed to notice two more vines stalking her constantly shifting feet on the stone floor. The first reared and snapped like a whip and bound itself around her ankle; Lara feeling her clothing tense looked down and shrieked at the additional vines now vying to topple her to the ground. She violently shook her booted foot, trying to loosen the coil, stomp the life out of it but it only seemed the encourage the vine to seize her. It raced up her leg, coil after coil, wrapping her whole shin. The force was so tight she could feel the fabric of her cargo pants rip, one of the pockets opening and dumping the antidote on the stones. 

Lara could feel the first vine binding her was now well above her elbow, pushing up her chest and struggling to tighten around the curves of her figure, tugging at her shirt as it tried to find purchase. It seemed to quickly abandon the task and let its length extend outwards, circling tight around her, the leading end growing length like a rearing snake. It began grasping at her free wrist, attempting to fully restrain her from being able to resist the vegetation's will, seeming to be binding her completely in the fleshy, rope-like foliage.

Lara fiercely struggled to keep her hand free when she felt the second vine pass over her shoulder and begin searching for her neck. She let out a whimper as she still struggled to keep her footing and keep her one hand loose.

"Please no! Not after everything... not this way." She cried out hopeless now as the vines seemed to have her when, "The knife! The knife!" She shouted as the thought dawned on her as her eyes lit up, mouth almost agape with determination and joy at finding a solution at almost the last second. She dove to the floor, hard impact on the stone but her adrenaline dulled the pain. With her free hand she grasped at the soldier’s knife, cutting her finger finding the blade before the hilt. She winced at the pain but focused, grabbing the handle and throwing herself up against the wall the two vines binding her tightly were coming from.

She swung with all the force she could muster from her barely free arm and lodged it into the flesh of the first vine, still slowly growing out of the wall. The sharp blade cut through the tough, yet smooth outer skin of the plant, digging into it but not cutting through it. Lara sighed and took a deep breath, ripping the knife out of the creeper while applying as much downward force as she could, letting the sharp edge of the blade slice through the rest of the vine. It fell to the floor with a heavy thud, the life seeming to drop with it. The tension of the truss of foliage around her kept it tight but unmoving, she quickly reached up towards the base of second vine now, slashing through its root in the wall before it was able to find its way around her neck. The searching strand fell against her back with a thud as it fell limp against the other vines binding her. 

Free from the most pressing danger. Lara drew in a deep breath and sighed with relief. She awkwardly knelt and severed the smaller vine that had seized her leg, freeing herself completely as the maimed creepers seemed to retreat, wither and die. She carefully stood back up, the verdure ropes challenging her ability to stay balanced. She strained and shimmied her shoulders, shaking and pushing to escape the now limp plant limbs. She closed her eyes and shook herself back and forth, her long, tied back hair almost slapping as it swung with her. The dead vine began to unravel with the motion and the pressure and Lara had freed herself from its verdant clutches within a minute. She stepped away from the heap of plant matter so fast she almost stumbled while back pedaling to the center of the room, as far from the walls as she could, and took stock of her situation.

Her pant leg was shredded up to the knee, the tattered rag flapping next to her. She was covered in scrapes as if she had just sprinted through a thicket of brambles. She had a deep cut across her ring, middle and index finger on her right hand from the knife and her heart was still beating so fast and so loud that if it weren't for her breathing it would be reverberating off the walls.

"So, the Child of Eden..." Lara said aloud, "...that thing, is some kind of insane growth accelerant, reacting like a Venus fly trap with the reflex and speed to rival a person." She mulled over the implications to herself. It was an insane thought! Yet Lara had seen a storm summoned from clear weather and a man who had live a hundred life time’s yet not look a day over thirty-five. This was just another incredible mystery of the ancient world that was being discovered, and it was incredibly dangerous.

"Aghh..." Lara breathed in sharply and winced as she leaned on her wounded hand.

"One of them must have a basic first aid kit." She said carefully shuffling over to the nearest corpse, her legs still shaking from the fear and exhilaration of her escape. Lara fumbled with the pouch on the back of the soldier's belt, unzipping it to reveal a basic first aid kit. Grabbing a bandage roll and a package of alcohol swabs. She cut away the ragged pant leg, leaving one at the knee, deciding to have an odd, asymmetric look. She unwrapped one of the swabs and gently ran it over her torn up shin, wincing as it stung fiercely as the cloth grew dirtying with her blood and sweat. She wrapped the wound after cleaning it, wiping sweat from her brow. Lara realized that the chamber was humid, a film of sweat had formed on her skin from the struggle and her arms shone with it as she continued to care for her injuries. Lara carefully wiped the blood from her hand cleaning the wound on her fingers before bandaging them individually to keep her dexterity. She had one long tear in her shirt along her abdomen, she unwrapped another wipe and rolled up her tank top, feeling the relief of air on her bare midriff rather than the sweaty garment sticking to her. She bit her lip and let out a distressed breath as she drew it across her cut, wrapping her torso with the bandage, rolling her shirt back down, pulling it tight over her. She noticed all the small rips and tears her struggle with the vine had left and sighed. Rare was it that any of her expedition clothing survived the trip, but it was still a disappointment when it happened.

Lara picked the combat knife back up and walked over the corpse she took it from with the heap of dead vines next to them. She shuddered at their presence focusing on the Trinity Soldier, taking the sheath off his belt, putting the knife away and clipping it to her belt. 

Lara let herself breath, her heart rate had finally calmed, and she folded her arms across her chest and thought. Every fiber of her being screamed at her to leave now, after the experience with the vines, Lara was terrified at the thought of going deeper into the ruin, yet Trinity was here. The idea that they could control and potentially harness the Child of Eden was a much bigger threat. She paced the chamber, considering her options. Like the Divine Source it would have to be destroyed to keep it out of the wrong hands.

Lara resolved to brave the ruin and attempt to seal away or destroy the artifact, keeping it from Trinity and anyone else who would misuse it. She cracked another glow stick and examined the room. There were two passageways, one that she came from and another which descended further into the ruin. Lara quickly began the descent deeper into the ruin taking extra care to avoid the creepers still coating the cracked stone walls.

After nearly a hundred steps before the hall leveled off and widened into a long hall. It looked rather undisturbed, the Trinity team may not have got this far. Lara held the glow stick high, the walls covered in similar renditions of the frescos she had seen in the previous chamber without inscription. She walked down the hall way, old iron chandeliers with no candles hanging from the high ceilings. Her steps echoed as her boots made a soft clomping sound on the old stones until one shifted under her foot. Lara winced, knowing the feeling all too well. There was a soft mechanical click, a rumble as something shifted inside the walls.

"Damn, Lara you're better than this!" She swore to herself as a series of large, weighted pendulums began to swing between the walls in a staggered pattern.

"Of course." Lara sighed, timing the first pendulum, ducking and swinging her way around it and watching the second. "It could be worse I can handle simp..." she was cut off with a startled cry as she found herself falling. She had gone to dodge the second pendulum and the stones of the floor had given way, dropping her into another chamber almost thirty feet below the corridor. She landed on her left foot and felt her ankle painfully roll and buckle as she hit the hard-stone floor.

"Damn, damn! Ugghhh...it was too simple...distraction from the real trap." She mumbled to herself as she leaned back, supporting herself with her hands as she rocked back taking weight from her injured foot. She looked around the chamber she found herself in, her glow stick having flown from her hand and landing in the middle of the room. She had her back to a wall she was closest too and the far wall seemed to be lined with culverts at the base. They were several feet wide and only a couple feet tall. 

Lara studied the wall for a moment before noticing something that made her heart sink. There was another vine slowly growing across the floor, though it seemed not to be aware of anything around it like the ones she had previously encountered. She made an effort to stay still, not knowing how it located anything around it. She had only agitated the first set of vines after touching one, hopefully if she steered clear it wouldn't pose a threat. She slowly backed away, careful not to put pressure on her foot as she used her hands in inch her way back to the wall, not taking her eyes off the slowly moving vine.

She reached back with her hands behind her to move even farther from the vine and did not feel stone, something soft and cool. Before Lara could react, realize that she had just touched another vine, the creeper seized her wrists, coiling itself around them, wrapping its way up her arm.

"No, NO!" Lara screamed in a panic, struggling against the vine but it had her hands pinned behind her back. It appears the creepers where collective as the one she had been trying to avoid turned towards her as she struggled and began growing in her direction. The fleshy plant tendril was tightly working its way around her arms behind her, seeming to have learned from the first run in with Lara that she was crafty enough to escape. It grew quickly around her arms, coiling tightly, pressing them together as it bound her firm. She thrashed and struggled, hardly able to get the vine to give any slack as it worked its way around her. The plant from across the room had found her feet, wrapping around Lara's ankles as its counterpart coiled up her arms.

"Errrghhh, come on!" Lara screamed unable to move her arms or legs now, her elbows locking together, forcing her to arch her back to keep from running her knuckles into the stones. She tried to bring her arms around to the knife sheathed on her belt as a third tendril whipped itself around her torso and bound wrists, forcing her to lean forward. Lara gasped as she felt the creeper slither up her torso quickly, wrapping tightly around her midsection and arms, ensuring her hands stay behind her and further limiting her possibility for escape. She couldn't help but let out a soft whimper, feeling heat of tears forming in the corner of her eyes as she continued to twist her shoulders back in forth in a futile struggle against the advancing foliage.

"Why? Please.... no." she sobbed, unable to hold back tears as the tendril constricting her ankles climb past her knees, securing her legs and rendering them immobile. Panicked, Lara felt her fear growing and her inhibitions fall. The tendrils where wrapped fully around her arms, locking them together and rendering her helpless as the vine coiling its way up her torso was almost to her chest. 

"Help! Help! If anyone can hear me please, I'm trapped down here! Please Help! He...errghhh hhrrhhmmm Mmmhmmmm HMMPMMMPHH!!!" she gave in screaming for her life only to be cut off by another vine whipping its way across her mouth. It wrapped around her head rapidly forcing its ways between her lips, covering them as she tried to scream for help. To her shock and horror, smaller tendrils seemed to grow out of knots in the vine, filling her mouth, depressing her tongue and utterly silencing Lara, robbing her of the last possible chance she had at rescue. The shook her head violently as the chords of flora gagged her, stuffing her mouth with leafy cordage to ensure Lara's helplessness. 

"Mhhmm, phmm Hmmmphmm hphmmm!" Lara could barely moan into the tendrils wrapped around her mouth as the vines circled around her shoulders, reducing her movement to shaking from side to side. She thrashed hard, trying to yank her head away from the coils gagging her, straining hard against the tough foliage. Lara felt it tense and pull hard against her, throwing her head back and cracking it against the stone wall. The pain was immediate and splitting, Lara's vision began to narrow as she slumped over. Her struggling ceased as she struggled to maintain consciousness, the vines still rustling and squeezing around her body. She felt herself begin to slowly move across the floor, dragged by the vines keeping her completely helpless as her vision faded to black.

Lara blinked her eyes slowly, trying to get her bearings. She winced, the pain in the back of her head registering as she came to. "Ow my head." She struggled to articulate into words, something was in her mouth, something soft and cool pressing firmly over her lips reducing her statement to a muffled whimper. Her senses slowly made their way back to her.

Lara's arms where tightly encased in vines, even further wrapped around her torso, fully cocooning her in the green tendrils. Her legs where in a similar condition, firmly surrounded with the leafy cordage. Here she was left in a compromised position, silenced and completely helpless.

Lara tried to roll, her senses still dulled from waking, the vines where holding her down, lashing her to the floor. It was soft, like earth and grass, not the stone of the trap she had fallen into. Lara craned her neck, trying to look around her, the vines remaining still yet the tension of the green coils gagging her limited her ability to look. The foliage restraining her seemed to be dormant, still constrictingly tight, and had some elasticity to them, allowing Lara to roll to one side. 

 

She was in a large sanctum, the ground was covered in vines and grasses at an incline, like a large bowl. The room was lit with a low, golden glow that seemed to emanate from the center. Several feet lower in the bottom of the large basin like room there was a large tree, resembling an oak with white bark and golden fruit from which the glow seemed to emanate from.

"Hhmmrrhm Mphhmm." Lara moaned realizing what she was looking at, why the vines had restrained her rather than kill her. She was looking at the artifact that she came here for, the Child of Eden, a tree grown from a cutting of the tree that bore the forbidden fruit. It killed the sons of Adam that came to close but consumed the daughters of Eve. She lived so that she could die here, and her corpse would fertilize the earth the tree grew from in some sick, twisted completion of the circle of genesis.

This artifact, what she had been searching for a grossly underestimated was to be her undoing. She surveyed the ground in front over, tangles of vines seemed to be wrapped over articles of clothing. What looked like ancient circlets and bare remnants of old robes, what looked like the clothing of a village woman and a uniform of a female soldier of Trinity. They all lay her to satiate the needs of the Child of Eden. Lara rolled over on her back, wincing as she pinched her wrists against something on her belt.

"Mhhmm!" Lara squealed into the packed tendrils keeping any intelligible sounds from passing her lips. Her heart lept thinking it was her knife yet as she tried to grip it, she realized the shape was wrong. It was the cylinder she had found at the entrance to the ruins, she could feel the pin as her fingers where able to grip it and lift it from her belt. She sighed, it would do no good to free her from the verdure ropes keeping her helpless, but the slope of the room was just enough that she may be able to destroy the Child of Eden, ensuring Lara was its last victim and that it could never be harnessed by Trinity.

Lara rolled over to her side, facing away from the tree, yanked the pin from the grenade and tossed it the best she could downhill. Her wrists where able to flick it most of the way as it rolled to the base of the tree. Lara struggled to roll back, the tight coils of vines unyielding as she attempted to move. She glanced over to see the explosive go off, the sound lacking the power she had hoped for with the tree still standing.

"Mmhhmm phmmhm." She whimpered, her last resort proving futile. The grenade suddenly flared bright and the glow filled the room. Lara's fear of failing with her last chance washed away in the warmth and light the explosive gave off as the light grew, giving way to tall flames engulfing the tree. 

"Of course! It was a defoliator, and incendiary" Lara thought almost giddy with excitement watching the tree burn. The flames reached the leaves and grew quickly, spreading over the entire plant, engulfing it in fire. She watched, pleased with herself for a moment before she felt a sudden slack in coils of vines binding her. They had gone limp like before when she had severed them from the wall.

The vines and the tree where linked! With the tree dead, so where the creepers! She struggled, the vines slowly stretching, the extreme tightness binding her beginning to loosen. Lara was able to sit up, overcoming the cordage keeping her down, those binding her arms still holding on. She flexed her arms and shook her shoulders back and forth, the bonds falling away with a soft thud, landing around her in a heap, the coils of green tendril falling away. Her tank top was torn and tattered, shallow scratches evident all over her skin.

Lara ignored this, jubilant to be free and accomplish her mission. She kept struggling, shaking her shoulders and ahead, tossing her mussed hair with each swing as she struggled, feeling her wrists begin to become free. She shimmied and tugged at them until she felt her right-hand slip loose followed by the left. She began tugging at the tight coils around her lips, unravelling it from her head and spitting out the packed wad of tendrils, drawing a deep breath.

"Yes! Finally! Got to move, not going to escape only to die in a fire." She almost shouted aloud in the chamber now growing hot with the roaring blaze engulfing the tree. She drew her knife and cut the last of the binding verdure on her legs and stood, trying to find a way out from the chamber. She bolted towards it finding another staircase carved into black stone. She climbed the stairs as fast as her sore ankle would allow her, eventually coming to an angled door with an old wooden lever next to it. 

She yanked it without thought, the smoke already filling the chamber and the doors flew open, dumping soil into the small landing. A ray of light pierced through as the soil still tumbled in, the buried exit revealing itself as Lara quickly scrambled her way out, finding herself only a few hundred feet from where she had entered the ruin, smoke now beginning to seep out of the openings to the sanctum.

"Huh, oh, finally." Lara struggled to catch her breath, finally relaxing, safe outside of the ruin. "What's next?"


End file.
